Vegetation cutting devices such as hedge trimmers are known power operated tools for cutting hedges and other foliage and vegetation. Typically hedge trimmers are powered by petrol or electric and an engine or motor drives a blade assembly comprising a pair of reciprocating blades.
A hedge trimmer comprises a first blade and a second blade. The first and second blades typically comprises a comb-like structure wherein each tooth of the comb-like structure is a cutting element. One or both of the blades moves reciprocally past each other. This means that the reciprocating first and/or second blade continually expose and close gaps between the cutting elements. As vegetation is pressed adjacent to the first and second blades, the vegetation enters the gaps between the cutting elements. When the first and/or second blade moves, the vegetation is cut as the first blade creates a shearing action against the second blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,924 discloses a hedge trimmer which comprises first and second blades which each reciprocally move along their longitudinal axes. A problem with U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,924 is that hedge trimmer comprises blades of differing mass. The second blade, underneath the first blade is bigger and has a greater mass. This means that it takes more energy to move the second, more massive blade, through the same distance as the first, less massive blade. This is particularly noticeable when the hedge trimmer is battery driven, and the amount of energy stored in the battery is limited.
Embodiments of the present invention aim to address the aforementioned problems.